top colleges | POCSmom's Insights

Cliché:	Rise from the ranks.
POCS Reality:	When reading college ranking lists, consider the source and method used, and separate fact from opinion. Then write your own successful college list.

The lists are coming, the lists are coming! The college ranking lists, that is. So many lists; so many different rankings.

Q: So which is the best college?

A: The affordable one that has the programs, activities, and location that provides the student the best foundation for a successful life and career.

In other words, have fun reading the lists. Consider the source and ranking method used, pull the facts from opinions, and make your own college ranking list. This will form the basis of your final college list of schools that you will apply to for admission.

For 2012, here are 7 college ranking lists. I didn’t rank the rankers so go to these sites in whatever order you choose:

25 Coolest College Labs (neatorama.com) This is a link to the link but the image of an up close and personal study of a Hawaiian volcano makes it worth the stopover (image #21 on the actual list): http://www.neatorama.com/2011/08/20/the-25-coolest-college-labs/

And this is the link to the actual list of the 25 Coolest College Labs with more images from spaceships to deep sea exploration, from collecting microbes on cave rocks to running pyrotechnics at rock concerts: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-08/you-call-college

America’s coolest (greenest) schools (Sierra Magazine) http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201109/coolschools/all-schools.aspx

Colleges That Help Grads Get Top Salaries (SmartMoney) http://www.smartmoney.com/borrow/student-loans/which-colleges-help-their-grads-get-top-salaries-1312402692380/

Top Party Schools (Playboy) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/14/top-party-schools-playboy_n_849215.html#s264482&title=University_of_Colorado

Best Colleges (U.S. News & World Reports) http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2011/08/04/new-best-colleges-rankings-are-coming-soon

The Best 376 Colleges (The Princeton Review) http://www.princetonreview.com/rankingsbest.aspx

America’s Top Colleges (Forbes) http://www.forbes.com/colleges/williams-college/

Here are some things to consider when evaluating the lists:

Critique about rankings (NACAC) http://www.nacacnet.org/AboutNACAC/Governance/Comm/Documents/USNewRankingsReport.pdf

Here is a family perspective after doing your research and culling the facts from opinions:

POCSmom’s Insight: YouTube Video POCSmom’s College List and the College Location POCSmom Factor

http://www.youtube.com/user/pocsmom?feature=mhum#p/a/u/2/k-3NLWq1FHY

Do you have a list to add that you found helpful?